Spark-wheel drive mechanism for automatic gas lighter



April 1970 A. P. F. TIS'SOT DUPONT 3,506,387

SPARK-WHEEL DRIVE MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC GAS LIGHTER Filed Aug. 1, 1968 INVENTOR ANDRE PIERRE FRANCOIS TISSOT DUPONT Uited States Patent F Int. Cl. F2s 2/16 U.S. Cl. 431275 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drive mechanism for the spark-wheel of an automatic gas lighter in which a push button drive member is urged against a grooved wheel integral with the sparkwheel for rotating the same when pressed and sliding past the wheel when released; guiding means being provided to allow the drive member to be shifted laterally during its return travel.

This invention relates to a driving mechanism for an automatic gas lighter and more particularly to such a mechanism for driving the spark-wheel by means of a simple push button operation.

It is well known that a lost motion connection must be maintained between the spark-wheel and the lever or drive for rotating the spark-wheel such that the drive can be subjected to a manual press and release movement for imparting a single direction rotation of the sparkwheel. For this purpose various devices have been known to use either single levers, toothed quadrant and wheel sets, or wheel and rack sets. All of these devices have a common feature in that the starting of the spark-wheel for rotation in a single direction is secured by a ratchetwheel connection, and this type of connection usually involves a ratchet-wheel integral with the spark-wheel. Such devices, however, offer serious defects in that they are complicated in construction and necessitate a minute assembly of parts which can only be realized by highly skilled workmanship and by using high quality materials for the springs and the ratchet'wheel. It is the purpose of this invention to avoid the aforementioned difficulties and to provide a device which involves a lost motion connection between the drive and the spark wheel without the necessity of employing a ratchet-wheel connection.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a driving mechanism for the spark-wheel of an automatic gas lighter which employs a simple push button drive member for cooperating with the spark-wheel to rotate the same in one direction of movement for the drive and, upon release of the push button drive member, an automatic disengagement from the spark-wheel is achieved.

It is another object of this invention to provide a driving mechanism for a spark-wheel in an automatic gas lighter in which a simple translatory motion is imparted manually in the form of a press and release operation and in which in the one direction the sparkwheel is rotated against the bias of the flint for producing a spark and in the other direction the spark-wheel is held stationary by the biasing action of the flint.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an automatic gas lighter having a simplified drive mechanism construction which can be readily dismounted or replaced without the necessity of dismantling the housing of the lighter.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an automatic gas lighter which is compact in design and 3,506,387 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 employs a minimum of parts and which will operate automatically and efliciently for prolonged periods of time.

According to one aspect employing the principles of this invention, there is provided a longitudinally grooved wheel coaxial and integral with the spark-wheel and a push button drive member slidably mounted for motion in a direction normal to the axis of the spark-wheel between two end positions, the drive member being biased to its rest end position. The drive member is provided with a working face for frictionally engaging the grooved wheel, the drive member being constructed of an elastomeric material to enhance this function. An inclined manually operable surface is provided on the upper portion of the drive member such that when the drive member is pressed downwardly, a component of force is brought to bear transversely against the grooved wheel by the working surface of the drive member causing it to rotate as the drive member continues its translatory motion. After the operator has pressed the drive mem her to its end position, the drive member is then caused to return to its initial rest position by means of a biasing spring action, while at the same time a lateral clearance is provided for the drive member allowing the working surface of the drive member to override the grooved wheel member during the course of its return movement to the rest position.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the automatic gas lighter with its drive mechanism shown in partial section in accordance with the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the lighter with the sparkwheel assembly shown in partial section;

FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the housing for the drive member in which the drive member has been removed;

FIG. 4 shows an elevational view of the lighter with the drive mechanism shown in partial section and in which the drive member is shown in one of its extreme positions; and

FIG. 5 shows an alternate embodiment of the connection between the spark-wheel and the working surface of the drive member.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a gas lighter 1 fitted at its upper end with a wind wall 2 and an ignition device employing a burner shutter 3, the reducing valve of which is not shown. A spark-wheel 4 is mounted for rotary movement between a pair of side wall plate 9, as best shown in FIG. 2. Integral with the wheel 4 and extending coaxially from opposing sides thereof is a wheel member 5 having longitudinal grooves along its peripheral surface. Provided to one side of the upper portion of the lighter 1 is a space or hollow area 10 which is adapted to receive a push button drive member 7 suitably com posed of an elastomeric material. The forward part of the drive member 7 is positioned between the two side wall plates 9, and the lower or base portion 8 of the drive member 7 is maintained within the space 10. The drive member 7 is adapted to slide in a vertical direction, that is, normal to the axis of the spark-wheel 4, and this movement is guided by means of the side wall plates 9 and the side walls of the area 10. Further, the drive member 7 is provided with a socket in its base portion 8 for receiving a coil spring 16, the bottom of which is supported in a suitable receptacle provided at the base of the space area 10. It will be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4 that the width of the space 10 is greater than the width of the base 8 of the drive member 7. This allows the drive member 7 to be shifted in a transverse direction, that is, in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the spark-wheel 3 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the drive member 7 is in its depressed position where it is shifted somewhat to the right against the bias of the coil spring 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the space 10 extends into a space 24 around the fiint holding tube 25. This area 24 surrounding a portion of the flint holding tube 25 corresponds to the front working face of the drive member 7 which is formed as a longitudinal groove, the sides 11 of which surround the spark-wheel, as shown in FIG. 2, as well as a portion of the flint holding tube 25 directly below the sparkwheel. The sides 11 of the drive member 7 engage the periphery of the grooved wheel member as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the lower portion of the sides 11 are provided with a cylindrical notch 12 into which the wheel 5 rests in the inoperative position shown in FIG. 1. Below the notch 12 the sides 11 are provided with a further notch or groove 13, and this groove receives the ends 14 of the two arms of a U-shaped lever 15 pivoted about an axis 17 for controlling the shutter 3. The lever 15 is pivoted off-center so that it tends to rotate in a clockwise direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the lever 15 is maintained in a horizontal position for closing the shutter 3 by the bottom surface of the groove 13 supporting the ends 14. The drive member 7 has an upper surface 18 inclined or slanted to a 45 angle, this surface being grooved for facilitating manual operation.

The operation of the device is as follows. At the rest position shown in FIG. 1, the drive member 7 is extended to its upper end position maintained by the spring 16. The wheel 5 then rests in the notch 12 and the ends 14 of the lever 15 engage the bottom surface of the lower groove 13, the other end of the lever 15 resting against the burner-shutter 3 and preventing gas to exhaust. To ignite the lighter, the operator then places his finger on the slanted face 18 of the drive member 7 pressing the drive member into the space 10. The stress created at the surface 18, by reason of its inclination to the horizontal, develops a lateral component of force which urges the drive member working face 11 against the grooved wheel 5. The transverse notch 12 at first resists the translatory motion imparted to the drive member thus requiring the operator to expend a greater effort to press the drive member. Consequently, kinetic energy is stored in the drive member and is then suddenly released when the wheel 5 begins to run out of the notch 12 causing, therefore, a very quick translation of the drive member to its depressed position. The drive member working face 11 then engages the grooved wheel 5 causing it to quickly rotate and with it the spark-wheel 4 which strikes the flint to produce the spark. The elastomeric material constituting the drive member prevents any sliding be tween the working frace of the drive member and the grooved wheel 5 during the downward motion of the drive member. As soon as the drive member translation begins, the ends 14 of the lever 15 disengage the lower side of the groove 13 and subsequently engage the upper side of this groove. The upper surface of the groove 13 bears against the ends 14 assisting the lever to rotate clockwise about its axis 17, and the other end of the lever rises and releases the shutter 3 from any stress which could interfere with the force feed gas exhaust, the predetermined flow of which is then ignited by the spark. Upon release of the drive member 7, the spring 16 acts to return the member to its initial resting position and at the same time pivoting the lever 15 in the reverse direction for closing the shutter 3. During the return travel of the drive member 7 and because of the clearance provided in the space 10, the base 8 is allowed to shift laterally allowing the working face 11 to slide on the wheel 5 without rotating it, the latter being held stationary by the braking action of the flint bearing against the spark-wheel.

As shown in FIG. 5, there is an alternate embodiment which can utilize more resistant materials than plastic, such as a suitable metal, or the like. In this case the grooves of the wheel 5 are deeper and constitute straight teeth 19. The drive member 20, in this case, has the sides of its working face formed of a rack construction 21. In this case, there is no need for the notch 12. The rack 21 is composed of teeth generally resembling a sawtooth form and having one set of edges 22 at a very low angle with respect to the horizontal for positively driving the teeth 19 of the wheel 5, as shown, and the other set of edges set at a relatively high angle with respect to the horizontal. With this arrangement, the inclined edges 24 slide off the teeth 19 of the wheel 5 throwing the drive member 20 laterally within the space 10 during its return travel and allowing the wheel 5 to be maintained in its braked position by force of the flint thereagainst as previously described.

What is claimed is:

1. A drive mechanism for the spark-wheel of an automatic gas lighter comprising in combination, a grooved wheel member coaxial with said spark-wheel and integral therewith, a drive member mounted for sliding movement in a direction normal to the axis of said wheel means biasing said drive member to a rest position, means for guiding said drive member for transverse clearance in a plane normal to the axis of said wheel, said drive member having a working face extending in a direction normal to the axis of said wheel and engaging said wheel, said drive member having a manually-operable surface inclined with respect to said working surface for producing a lateral component of force urging said working face of said drive member against said wheel member and said working face being provided with a transverse notch for receiving said wheel member with the upper portion of said notch bearing against said wheel member when said driving member is in its rest position, whereby energy is accumulated therebetween to initiate the sliding movement of said member.

2. A drive mechanism for the spark-wheel of an automatic gas lighter comprising in combination, a sparkwheel member, a drive member mounted for sliding movement and having a working face engaging said Wheel member, means biasing said drive member to a rest position, guide means for allowing a transverse clearance of said drive member in a direction normal to the axis of said spark-wheel, said drive member having a manually operable surface inclined to the direction of the sliding movement of said drive member for producing a component of force urging said drive member against said wheel member during said sliding movement and said working face being provided with a transverse notch for receiving said wheel member with the upper portion of said notch bearing against said wheel member when said driving member is in its rest portion, whereby energy is accumulated therebetween to initiate the sliding movement of said member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,482,807 9/ 1949 Strother 431-141 X 2,671,328 3/1954 Flamm 43ll31 3,150,508 9/1964 Smith 43 l-l30 FOREIGN PATENTS 320,548 4/ 1920 Germany.

EDWARD J. MICHAEL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

